1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a game played with a game board and the method of playing the game. In particular the present invention relates to a game which provides a strategic challenge to players to define pathways which limit the movement of the other players so that at the end of the game the winning player has no pieces remaining. The purpose of the game is to get rid of as many pawns and connecting pieces and connectors or connecting pieces by putting paths and shapes on the board, and also by encircling an area so that the opponent's circled pieces are returned to him or her. In particular, the present invention is a game having a game board formed of 64 square grids. Each of these square grids is raised so as to form recesses between the square grids in which playing pieces can be inserted.
Pieces used in the game include rectangularly shaped pieces called "pawns" and connecting pieces, or connectors, having one of several shapes: cross shapes, I- shapes, L-shapes, and T-shapes. The purpose of the game is to define paths to be taken by each player. Players alternatively take turns placing their pawns followed by a connector. The game starts at the center, where a cross piece is located. The cross piece defines one of four possible paths which can be taken. A player must then insert a pawn near one of these paths defined by a cross shaped piece located in the center of the board, and after the pawn place one of the connectors. The next player must then continue along any of the paths that are available either from the centrally located cross piece or from one of the paths defined by the connector piece that the previous player had placed. In this way, the game provides a strategic challenge to players to define pathways which limit movement upon the other players so that at the end of the game the winning player has no pieces remaining. The purpose of the game is to get rid of as many pawns and connecting pieces by putting paths and shapes on the board, and also by encircling an area so that the opponent's circled pieces are returned to him or her.
2. The prior art
Board games are known in the prior art. One such board game is U.S. Pat. No. 2,162,876 to Barton. In this patent (the '876 patent), a board is provided with hollowed out squares and with square shaped pieces which fit into the hollowed squares and which have various configurations inscribed thereon. These inscriptions indicate directions of movement for subsequent players. This game is initiated at one of four middle points at the borders of the game board. The object of the game is that the game is played until only one player can move. This player is declared the winner (page 2, left hand column, lines 71-74). A player may reclaim pieces on the board and thus keep playing after six of his pieces on the board have been used (page 2, right-hand column, lines 9-12). This game does not teach using up pieces nor that the pieces used or played are both pawns and connectors to determine pathways, and thus is less complex, and does not require the degree of strategy as required by the present invention.
It would therefore desirable to provide a game board with pieces wherein a strategic game can be developed which provides for developing paths for encircling given fields or areas so that one or more opponent can be forced to reclaim his or her pieces, and that only the player who has encircled this field can place his pieces therein.